Distr. GENERAL
CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
UNEP/CBD/COP/3/34
14 September 1996
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
[ADVANCE COPY]
CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Third meeting
Buenos Aires, Argentina
4 to 15 November 1996
Item 22 of the provisional agenda
DATE AND VENUE OF THE FOURTH MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Note by the Executive Secretary
1. Rule 3 of the rules of procedure for meetings
of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity provides that "the meeting of the Conference of
the Parties shall take place at the seat of the Secretariat, unless
the Conference of the Parties decides otherwise or other appropriate
arrangements are made by the Secretariat in consultation with
the Parties". Rule 4, paragraph 2, of the same document states
that "at each ordinary meeting, the Conference of the Parties
shall decide on the date and duration of the next ordinary meeting".
2. Accordingly, the Conference of the Parties, at
its third meeting, may wish to decide on the venue, date and duration
of its fourth meeting.
3. On the basis of the dates of previous meetings,
the Conference of the Parties may wish to hold its fourth meeting
in November 1997. In this case it may wish to consider holding
the meeting from 10 to 21 November 1997 at the seat of the Secretariat,
unless other arrangements are made in accordance with the rules
of procedure for meetings of the Conference of the Parties to
the Convention on Biological Diversity..
4. However, the Secretariat, having examined the provisional calendar of intergovernmental meetings for 1997 and having consulted the United Nations Conference Services, notes that several other intergovernmental meetings have been scheduled or tentatively scheduled for the fourth quarter of 1997. Taking this into account, and recalling the recommendation of the Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group on Biosafety that it hold its third meeting from 13 to 17 October 1997, the Conference of the Parties may wish to consider alternative dates for its fourth meeting.